ALBANY -- A federal jury on Tuesday ruled in favor of two women who sued the city of Kingston for sexual harassment and awarded them a total of $85,000, but it did not find for the third plaintiff in the case.

"You can fight City Hall," Jeanne Edwards, one of the successful plaintiffs, declared.

The four-man, four-woman jury agreed with Edwards and co-plaintiff Sandra Soria that the city and former Public Works Supervisor Steve Gorsline allowed a sexually hostile work environment. The jury, however, ruled against plaintiff Carole Huppert's identical claim and ruled that defendant Tim Williams, a former assistant public works superintendent, was not culpable in the case.

The jury also found that Edwards being laid off from the Department of Public Works by Mayor James Sottile in May 2009 was an act of retaliation for filing the lawsuit, and the presiding judge in the case, Lawrence Kahn, ordered Edwards reinstated.

The jury, which heard the case in U.S. District Court in Albany, awarded Edwards $55,000 and Soria $30,000. Of Edwards' total, the jury said $30,000 was because Sottile retaliated against her.

The jury also ruled the city must cover court costs and the plaintiffs' legal fees, which the women's attorney, Michael Sussman, estimated could top $100,000.

The city also must pay its own attorney in the case, Robert Cook.

"The jury reached the right result," Sussman said, adding that the women were "standing up to the city and saying it was wrong."

"You can fight City Hall," Edwards said. "You just have to stand up for what you believe. This is a step forward for women."

Edwards also said the lawsuit was "never about the money."

Soria said the jury's decision "is for women who come after us so that they don't have to go to work in fear."

Huppert said she was "disappointed" that the jury ruled against her, "but I know I tried to do the right thing."

The suit alleged, among other things, that Williams threw a fake breast at Edwards, a breast cancer survivor; the Huppert was given a certificate that proclaimed her "Bitch of the Year"; that a fake penis was left in a city truck used by Soria; and that adult magazines and sexually charged dialogue were common in the workplace

Cook, the city's attorney, declined to comment on the verdict but said, "It was a fair trial."

Sottile, who testified on Monday, did not respond to a reporter's phone and email requests for comment, but he did send an email to Common Council members.

"I am trying to find funding" to reinstate Edwards, the mayor wrote. "We may have to lay off an additional laborer to fund her position. No determination has been made."

In the past, Sottile has said the public should not jump to conclusions about the lawsuit and wait for all the facts to come out.

With the verdict in on Tuesday, Troy Ashdown, a shop steward for the union that represents city public works employees, said: "The mayor said he wanted the facts to come out in court, and it looks like the jury wasn't buying what he was selling. This will be part of the mayor's legacy."

Council Minority Leader Andi Turco-Levin called the case "an embarrassment" for the city.

"It is a shame that it had to come to this to make them open their eyes and realize this kind of behavior is unacceptable," said Turco-Levin, R-Ward 1, a candidate to succeed the retiring Sottile as mayor.

Council Majority Leader Bill Reynolds called the case regrettable.

"I regret everything that has occurred," said Reynolds, D-Ward 7. "I think that there is a lesson in this for the city, and I want to be sure this never happens again."